Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in China

For all talk about digital compacts or EVF-SLRs in the Minolta, Konica Minolta or relevant Sony ranges
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bakubo
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Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in China

Unread post by bakubo »

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/01/18 ... 013-launch

I don't expect much from this, but who knows? Still, it is good to see another company join m4/3. Even if it turns out they don't make any interesting bodies they might surprise with an interesting lens or two.

I like having more competition.
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by classiccameras »

It could well be much the same as most of the other Compacts/CSC on the market, I hope it isn't and I hope it follows in the old Kodak tradition of high quality but slightly quirky cameras that were made in Germany for Kodak in the 35-mm days, many had Zeiss or Sk lenses.
Is there any up dates on this new camera.

Pete
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by bakubo »

Here is a photo of the Kodak S1 m4/3 camera and the rumor says it has a Sony sensor.

http://www.43rumors.com/new-pictures-of ... ft-camera/
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by bakubo »

Here are some photos and info about the new m4/3 Kodak S1 that was announced at CES:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/01/09 ... =title_0_9

Uninteresting camera to me, but it doesn't hurt to have another company involved in m4/3.
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

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Thanks for the link Henry. I'm amazed they have also copied the Sony QX range :shock:
Nex 5, Nex 6 (IR), A7M2, A99 and a bunch of lenses.
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by bakubo »

Birma wrote:Thanks for the link Henry. I'm amazed they have also copied the Sony QX range :shock:
Get ready to be even more amazed. Vivitar has too! :lol:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/01/14 ... =title_0_1

Three companies think this sort of device is a good idea. Who knows, maybe they will catch on. I can see a certain attraction to it for some cases.
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

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It's an interesting concept and it's always good to see companies innovating.
Nex 5, Nex 6 (IR), A7M2, A99 and a bunch of lenses.
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

You can never be sure who proposed the QX concept to Sony - it may have come from outside. The Kodak branded JK Chinese MicroFourThirds is interesting because Kodak originally intended to have a branded FourThirds camera and was a founder of the consortium, but things never went that way. Seeing the Kodak name on someone else's engineering is - well, absolutely standard ever since Kodak started! Most enthusiast Kodak cameras were really someone else's or were joint efforts.

David
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by bakubo »

I just noticed that photos of the new Kodak m4/3 and other gear is now up on dpreview.

Kodak reborn: A look at JK Imaging's 2014 lineup

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/03/21 ... 014-lineup
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by classiccameras »

The new Kodak camera and lenses need to have good performance otherwise, they could drag the micro 4thirds format reputation down.

Kodak were far more famous for their films and other after exposure products, and most of that was made in house, I know as I worked at the Kodak factory in Harrow many moons ago, which by the way is still manufacturing.
Most of the Kodak branded cameras were made by contractors, such as the Retina series in Germany and some cheaper deals in the far East. Kodak also made a few cheap cameras in house.
Kodak also developed the CCD sensor and the Bayer system and this was used by Olympus for their early E - XXX DSLR's. Kodachrome was processed at the Hemel Hempstead plant in the UK. It was not that Kodak failed to adapt to the new digital age well they did in a small way, but they were just overwhelmed by other camera companies and never recovered.
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

P880 was the last time Kodak had a camera that was good (in raw nice 24mm wide angle good colours)
I'm pretty sure most of their problems were lack of innovation or trying.

I doubt their entrance to micro 4/3 (via a third part who have licensed the brand name) will make a lot of difference to micro 4/3 overall. It won't hurt but how can 3 makers fight for a share of their own pie?
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by classiccameras »

Just looking at what could have been with the 4/3 concept. Initially, Sony, Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic all signed up to the 4/3 concept. As we now all know, Sony and Fuji decided not to use the mount, but if they had stayed with the format, collectively it would have been quite a formidable group.
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

I've never really understood the business plan. The idea of a common mount/specification is a good one, but how can 3 makers who will be competing against each other (at least to a point) make money?
I think the problem now is that if you add all the mounts up (and we've a new NX-M mount from Samsung) we have far too many mounts out there.
F
A
K
EF
E
X
NX
Nikon 1
Q mount
Micro 4/3
EF-M

I've probably missed a few. I cannot for the life of me see how the market can sustain such a large number of mounts longer term it's mind numbing.
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by bakubo »

A single company with a single mount, hey, such as the A-mount, proved to be such a roaring success for Minolta and then Konica Minolta that Sony desperately wanted it. Now the A-mount is an even bigger roaring business success for Sony. That is why we have people on this forum who never share their angst about the future of A-mount. The future is so bright you gotta wear shades! :lol:
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Re: Kodak licensee shows off Micro Four Thirds camera in Chi

Unread post by Dusty »

I don't know, Barry. We used to have a whole lot more mounts than we do today, in the AF world.

Manual mounts:
Nikon F
Pentax K
Minolta SR (MC/MD)
Olympus OM
Canon FD
Leica R
Leica M
Contax/Yasica ??
Konica AR
M42 - Used by a ton of Mfgs., early Pentax, Ricoh, Miranda, Fugi to name a few.
Miranda (T?)
Rollie/Voightlander QBM
I probably missed a few others.

In addition, there were a lot more Medium Format cameras and mounts, too:
Bronica
Hassalblad
Pentax 645
Pentax 67
Mamiya 645
Mamiya 67

So I think that there was a time, when every company didn't have to be billion dollar companies with thousand of employees, that we supported a lot more mounts!

Dusty
An a700, an a550 and couple of a580s, plus even more lenses (Zeiss included!).
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